Russell Westbrook, center, shows off new running mates Paul George, left, and Carmelo Anthony during the Thunder's media day earlier this month.

Russell Westbrook, center, shows off new running mates Paul George, left, and Carmelo Anthony during the Thunder's media day earlier this month.

Photo: Sue Ogrocki, STF

Rockets ready to take court against Carmelo Anthony

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Someone in charge of scheduling must have a sense of humor and plenty of foresight. Either that, or just dumb luck had the Rockets' preseason opener fall just right. Either way, Rockets forward Ryan Anderson chose to just to laugh at the way things turned out.

After a summer filled with speculation that he would be traded in a deal to bring Carmelo Anthony to Houston, when the preseason schedule opens Tuesday in Tulsa, Anderson will be matched up with Anthony, bringing him face-to-face with reminders of the rumors that seemed left behind when Anthony was instead dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With other things to do than consider what might have been, the Rockets will face the Thunder to find the kinks and begin the preseason work to repair them. But Anderson could chuckle at the way things worked out, finding that preferable than lamenting much of an offseason in which he seemed in limbo.

"Last year, it happened with New Orleans in China," Anderson said. "Our first game was two games against New Orleans (his previous team) after leaving there.

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Today: vs. Oklahoma City at Tulsa, preseason, 7 p.m.

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"It's not really weird, but it is a bit of a coincidence."

It is also an interesting and potentially valuable test for the retooled teams that last met in last season's playoffs' first round. The Rockets have reworked their offense to go to a double point guard lineup with James Harden and Chris Paul in the backcourt together. They have added 3-and-D specialists P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. They have made their defense even more determined to switch on screens with many interchangeable defenders.

"We can get a better feel for what we need to do, where we need to improve," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Obviously, we won't be what we'll be, hopefully, in the springtime. We're in a good spot. We want to see where we are, what needs to be shored up. It will reveal itself on Tuesday.

The Thunder have added All Stars Anthony and Paul George to MVP guard Russell Westbrook. Though Westbrook and former Rockets forward Patrick Patterson will not play Tuesday, the Thunder will also be getting a good first look at their new-look roster.

Power forward focus

In many ways, that begins with a spotlight on the Rockets power forward working off two point guards and the Oklahoma City power forward that had expected to be in Houston.

"There's plenty of times I've guarded him, he's guarded me," Anderson said. "He's never really been predominantly a four. I don't know how we're going to match up. We haven't talked about that. We're not going through personnel like that.

"They're going to be a talented team. It's a good challenge for us. They can score the ball in a lot of different ways. It's going to be good for our defense. Our communication has got to be really good. We're switching a little bit more. We're not going to have too much of a game plan. We're going to go out and basically go with our principles that we've been doing through training camp. It will be good especially for the new guys."

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The Rockets will not spend much time on a game plan to defend Anthony or George. They will not face Westbrook, who received platelet-rich plasma injections in his left knee before the start of training camp and has had only limited, non-contact work.

Besides, the Rockets are more interested in checking out their changes than the Thunder's.

"That doesn't have anything to do with us," Paul said when asked about George and Anthony on the Thunder. "No. No. No. It's about us. Every night. All season long. Every night, it's about us.

"Every game is going to have a game plan, but for us, I think we're one of the few teams in the league that every night, we get an opportunity to go out and worry about what we do. As long as we do what we do, we'll be fine."

Welcome challenge

It does not hurt that in the new, abbreviated preseason schedule, the Rockets get to measure progress against another contender, offering the sort of test they cannot expect from the Shanghai Sharks on Thursday and perhaps not from the post-Anthony Knicks next week in New York. With just two weeks remaining before the season opener against the Warriors, the Rockets might need every challenge as much as they welcome a chance to play against anyone besides one another.

"We've been kind of beating each other up for the past week," Harden said. "It feels good to go against other competition, another really good team, and take these preseason games pretty strong. We have to get better every single day. It's going to be a good test for us.

"We kind of know what works, what (does) not work. It's exciting for the new guys that we have to be a part of this journey."

It is also more than a little interesting for one of the old guys going against the Thunder player that for most of the summer wanted to be in his position on the Rockets.